


Please Be Gentle

by wesawbears



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 11:57:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7531891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wesawbears/pseuds/wesawbears
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeremy and Jean learn to settle into each other's lives after the events of The King's Men. Based on a prompt I got on Tumblr asking for Jeremy and Jean's first time that morphed into this backstory on them getting together eventually leading up to that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Please Be Gentle

Contrary to popular belief, Jeremy and Jean were not together while they played for the Trojans. Jeremy was too focused on trying to help Jean become an independent person and he knew that if they started dating, they would just run the risk of becoming too codependent and it would only end in disaster for both of them. 

That didn’t mean that he wasn’t frustratingly attracted to Jean though. And after the first couple months of living with Jean, they had entered into a comfortable rhythm where they just fit into each other’s lives and spaces, albeit in a way that may appear to others as being slightly less than platonic. But in their defense, it was usually dark when they were getting ready in the morning and Jean had to get ready in the dark anyway since his system was still too used to the shorter Raven days and Jeremy often was stumbling around in the morning without his contacts in, so if Jean ended up in one of Jeremy’s hoodies or Jeremy pilfered a particularly loose pair of Jean’s sweatpants, they couldn’t really be blamed, right?

Except that these incidents led to every member of the Trojans being convinced that they were dating. This culminated in a very awkward Valentine’s Day where Alvarez well-meaningly left them a pack of flavored condoms and whipped cream. If it had been typical Trojan joking it would have been fine, but in a lot of ways Jean was still like a jumpy cat and seeing those had led Jean to pull away from Jeremy for about a week until the silence in the room became unbearable.

Jeremy and Alvarez had a long conversation about what was appropriate after that and from then on the team was less vocal about any thoughts they had on JereJean and they returned to their normal satellite lives and did not talk about it.

So needless to say they were Not Dating. 

But once they graduated, they both got signed to the same team and since they just so happened to be looking for apartments in the same area, it just made sense to get an apartment together. That’s what friends did, right? 

Except now they were in the same space again, only this time there were no pretenses of college life and no other Trojans around. There were also the added concerns of no dining halls, so they had to grocery shop and cook. And Jeremy’s heart still fluttered when Jean did human things like remembering the kind of cookies Jeremy liked after a game and bringing them home. Every time something like that happened, he wanted to throw a party and bake a cake, but it was just so hard to know what would make Jean shut down and shy away from him, so it was just easier to thank him quietly and act like it was just another day.

So while Jeremy had known that he had more than platonic feelings for Jean for a while now, being in a space that was emphatically Theirs without being able to really share it was occasionally frustrating. And now there was the added frustration of how in the dorm he had been able to ground Jean after a nightmare or a bad day by sitting on the floor next to his bed and running his thumb over his knuckles until he could breathe again, but now they were in separate rooms and it felt intrusive to enter Jean’s space when it was such a huge step for him to even sleep in a room without someone else. Jean still had problems going to the grocery store alone, though he was getting better, and Jeremy didn’t want to take away that progress from him. 

Which is why he was so surprised when one night after a particularly taxing game he hears a soft knock on his door that pulls him out of his sleep. He looks up to see Jean in a soft henley and a pair of his old Trojan sweatpants leaning heavily against the door. It’s dark, but Jeremy can imagine the dark bags under his eyes. Jeremy sits up and rubs his eyes before quickly checking the time. “Can’t sleep?”

Jean shook his head, sleepily brushing his hair off his forehead. “Nightmare. A bad one.” His accent comes out more prominently when he’s tired and hearing it makes Jeremy soften. It makes him seem younger and less bruised by the world. 

“Don’t want to be alone?” Jeremy guesses. He knows that having to articulate what he needs is hard for Jean, so Jeremy tries his best to anticipate what he needs before he knows he needs it. Jean nods, though he still hesitates at the door as though he’s not sure what Jeremy’s answer is going to be. Jeremy pulls back the covers and moves over to offer him a spot. Jeremy’s careful not to touch him as he crawls in, but takes his hand between them and brushes his thumb over it like he used to until Jean falls asleep.

In the morning, Jeremy is attempting to make breakfast, even though all he’s succeeding at is potentially burning eggs, when he’s interrupted by the touch of a hand on his shoulder. He turns to look at Jean and asks, “How’d you sleep?”

Jean pauses, trying to calculate what to say. It hurts Jeremy’s heart to think that Jean still feels the need to censor himself, that he still feels the need to calculate his every response in order to minimize his future pain. Still, Jeremy knows he’s trying and he smiles appreciatively at Jean’s soft “Better. Thank you.” He thinks that’s going to be the end of the conversation until he feels Jean’s hand reaching up to touch his jaw before leaning in to kiss him softly. Jean pulls away, leaving Jeremy a bit shell shocked before saying simply. “Oh. Your eggs are burnt.”

After that morning, they just settled into an easy relationship where nothing really changed except the fact that Jeremy could finally be as close to Jean as he had wanted to be for the past 3 years. It wasn’t perfect; sometimes Jeremy would move too close without thinking and Jean would pull away or Jean would lash out, but what was important is that they were learning each other and instead of parallel lines, they were learning to live in tandem with each other.

Things come to a head after a game about 3 months after that morning. They just won and they’re both feeling the adrenaline rush. Jeremy runs his hand through his hair and grins at Jean while he gulps and looks back with heat in his eyes. They rush through their shower and speed home, eventually ending up on the couch with Jean straddling Jeremy’s thighs and Jeremy leaning back with his hands resting on Jean’s hips. Jeremy cautiously moves his hand up to Jean’s waist and asks “Are you okay?” 

Jean nods slowly and says “We can. If you want.”

Jeremy’s hand freezes. “Are you sure? I don’t want to push you into anything…”

The glare Jean shoots him stops him cold. “I am not a child. I know what I want, I know what I can handle and I will tell you if you go too far. Do you trust me?”

“Of course. So, um, yeah.” Jeremy hits himself on the inside for his awkwardness, but he just can’t believe this is happening and doesn’t want to spook Jean. “There’s condoms and lube in the bedroom.”

Jean raises an eyebrow, but stands and offers his hand to Jeremy. “Then we should go there, no?”

Jeremy groans internally at how hot Jean’s fucking accent is, but takes his hand and follows him in until they collapse on the bed and get into the same position they were in before. They kiss for a few minutes until Jean pulls away and roots through the dresser. “Do you want to get me ready or do you want me to do it myself?”

The image of Jean stretching himself just about causes Jeremy’s brain to short out, but he manages to say “Um...if you want to...you can...I mean…”

Jean rolls his eyes and mutters something under his breath in French, but manages to tell him, “I will do this. You are wearing too many clothes.” It’s not the most romantic moment, but Jeremy knew it wouldn’t be and he was happy with this beautiful, bossy man in front of him. He undressed quickly and leaned back on his elbows as he watched Jean prep himself. His hair was sticking to his forehead and he was biting his lip. Jeremy moaned and began to touch himself as he watched. Jean looked up and smirked. “Presumptuous much, Knox?”

“I can’t help it. You’re gorgeous.”

“You silly man. You shouldn’t say such things,” he said, crawling over to Jeremy to resume their previous position. 

“Even if they’re true?” Jeremy asked.

“Yes,” Jean said, leaning down to peck Jeremy’s lips. “Even then.”

Jeremy reached up to brush Jean’s cheek, but he flinched when Jeremy’s hand strayed too close to his ‘3’ that still lay on his face. “Not there.”  
Jeremy moved his hand away. “Whatever you want.”

“Just hold my hand. Like you usually do.”

“You’re in charge,” Jeremy answered and grasped Jean’s hand as he sunk down onto Jeremy.

They moved slowly, at Jean’s pace, and Jeremy made sure to mentally catalogue every clench around him and every beautiful sigh Jean let out, right until the end when they were both spent.

After they had cleaned up, Jean collapsed next to Jeremy and kissed Jeremy’s knuckles. “You make me very happy.”

Jeremy grinned at him and squeezed his hand. “You make me happy too.”


End file.
